A private home built to resemble the shape of a microscopic creature.

Worker-owned cooperative and resource for those looking to lighten their ecological footprint.

Every Sunday, this Thai temple in Berkeley serves a backyard brunch.

The sister plane of the C-123 shot down during the Iran-Contra Affair has found a new purpose in retirement.

Handmade treasures from around the world.

Odd stone and concrete monuments in the "Poet of the Sierras" eclectic folly garden.

For roadside fast food, pull over at the giant orange.

The oldest lighthouse on America's west coast no longer needs keepers, yet they maintain the site anyhow.

This mountaintop beacon is only lit three times a year but shines like some kind of all-seeing eye.

These WWII-era murals were initially booed as a libelous portrayal of the American dream but have survived multiple attempts to have them destroyed.

Deco Modern sculptures of the people of the Pacific, cast for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.

A classic advertising icon immortalized in regal bronze.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

A mysterious monument covered in a binary code marks the heart of tech.

A lonely monument to the original Silicon Valley tech campus.

Oakland's beautiful monumental cemetery.

Julia Morgan's Moorish-Gothic labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and Oakland's notable dead.

Where the first "expert riders, willing to risk death daily" for the Pony Express were recruited.

The capitol city's oldest existing cemetery.

An eccentric home stands out in an otherwise average neighborhood with mosaics, mini topiaries, and kinetic sculpture.

This 15-story mural celebrates the 50th anniversary of the musician's iconic "At Folsom Prison" album.

Art Deco stylings conceal the true nature of this bridge.

I Street Bridge is the heaviest swinging center bridge in the United States.